Chapter 22 third quarter

From the perspective of the attacking Liao army, the focus of the attack was on the east road of Yelu Dashi.The west route of the Xi army commanded by Xiao Qian and Xiao Orila started to attack later, and they only played a coordinated role in the entire campaign. The enemies that Yelu Dashi will encounter on the east road are the main force of the Western Army, the Jingyuan Army led by Zhong Shidao and Zhong Shizhong himself, the Qin Feng Army and the Xihe Army led by Yao Pingzhong.Yelu Dashi's idea is that the overall victory can be achieved by defeating the main enemy.For the main battlefield on the East Road, he chose to be on the Langoudian line.The Langoudian River is wide, and the middle stream is three or four feet deep, so it is difficult for people and horses to cross.The reason why he chose this ferry with unfavorable conditions is that his own command post in the southeast is located in Weijiaying, Hebei, Langoudian, and Yang Keshi's East Route Army command post is located in Langoudian. Nantangwa, south of Goudian, is less than ten miles away from Jiehe.Using this place as the main battleground, it is easier to organize and dispatch your own troops and concentrate on destroying the enemy's main force.

In war, sometimes it is necessary to avoid strong points and attack flaws, and first select the weak link of the enemy to attack, and sometimes it is the opposite, to concentrate all efforts to fight head-on with the main force of the enemy, and to break through this level, other parts can be solved with a knife.Which of these two different strategic approaches to adopt is mainly determined according to the specific local conditions at that time, but it is also related to the commander's determination, style and his command art.Yelu Dashi's planning and deployment of troops is like a big gambler. He would rather destroy his entire army than bet most of the bets he could raise on a win or loss that can bankrupt the opponent.Because he understands that the nature of this war is a desperate battle to the death. Either he wins and finds his own way of life, or he loses and dies.There is no third option.

The spearhead of Yelu Dashi's attack was directed at the position defended by the elite Yang Keshi of the Western Army from the beginning. After Yang Keshi first heard the alarm, he immediately made a firm and urgent decision.He sent a herald to order all the troops along the river to stand firm and take the initiative to attack, and not to let the enemy troops cross the river.He mobilized the follow-up troops on the second line to go to the relatively weak front line to participate in the battle, and all the reserve troops moved into the second line to fill in the defense.On the one hand, he sent his brother Yang Kesheng to the command headquarters to request approval of these temporary measures, and asked Zhong Shidao to lead the entire army to the front line immediately and fully respond to the counterattack.Not only did he not panic, but with a very happy mood, he hoped that the situation would expand and the whole army would be plunged into the whirlpool of war, forcing the high command to let it go, and forcing the envoy to succumb to the fait accompli.

Yang Keshi's determination to fight for the first battle is exactly the same as Yelu Dashi's, but he neither has the power and courage of the latter, and is unfortunately in a passive position. Therefore, although these measures are reasonable and correct, they are too late and have not met expectations. Effect. After Yang Keshi issued these orders, without waiting for a response from the Commander-in-Chief and the Xuanfu Division, he led his generals Gao Shixuan, Ma Yanfu, Wu Ge and others to lead his own 500 soldiers to the front line of Langoudian. .Although the alarms came one after another from the defense line along the river, he intuitively judged that the fiercest battle must have occurred at the Langoudian ferry, and he drove in that direction without hesitation.The five hundred personal soldiers are the core of the troops that Yang Keshi has personally trained for a long time.They seem to be sifted through the sieve of war again and again, and the remaining elite are the best of the best.It has fought for thousands of miles on the northwest battlefield, and has an outstanding reputation. It is a backbone force that makes Xixia and the military leaders of the Qiang people feel terrified when they hear its reputation.

Yang Keshi moved quickly, but Yelu Dashi's troops moved faster than him.When Yang Keshichi arrived at the front line, he saw that the river defense troops on his side were unable to stop the enemy's brave attack and were withdrawing one after another.Liu Zhengyan, the commander-in-chief on the front line, also resisted while retreating.The Liao army succeeded in crossing the river, and some people had already crossed the river on rafts, bamboo rafts, and boats to chase and kill the Song army along the river.Still others have taken a bridgehead and are consolidating and expanding their positions.Others connected the rafts together and fixed them on a slanted line following the flow of water from northwest to southeast to build a pontoon bridge.All these actions were very intensive. The pontoon bridge had not yet been fully built, and the brigade of the Liao army had already used it to run and jump across the south bank crookedly.As soon as their hooves touched the ground, they rushed into the fight like tigers out of their tails.Thousands of people gathered on the north bank of the river, forming a dense mass of people, trying to get across as soon as possible.

The area around the Baigou River belongs to the North China Plain.At the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, some frontier generals He Chengju and Li Jilong, who had a strong sense of responsibility and took national defense affairs on their shoulders, dug many ditches and grabens south of the Baigou River and planted many trees. This is to limit the intrusion of the Liao army's iron cavalry; this purely defensive strategic measure is inherently negative.After the "Chanyuan Alliance", this place became the key point for the envoys of the two sides to engage each other.In order to express the sincerity of "good neighborliness and good neighborliness", the Northern Song government unilaterally cut down forests and filled up ditches in an attempt to eliminate the suspicion of the Liao side and ensure the so-called "peace" in which the initiative was controlled by the other side. In the past, the government was corrupt, the military equipment was slack, and the trees that had not been cut down had long been regarded as profit, and they had been cut down completely, and the ditches that had not been filled had already been dried up and blocked, which was of no avail.As a result, the most important border defense area became undefended, and the original appearance of a large plain was restored, which was most conducive to the galloping of cavalry.

When Yang Keshi rushed to the front line, he happened to see that the Liao cavalry gathered around the bridgehead were about to use this favorable terrain to develop in depth.The situation is indeed critical.Yang Keshi neither greeted the defeated soldiers nor rescued Liu Zhengyan who was surrounded by the enemy. Based on his long-term combat experience, he immediately judged whoever occupied and maintained this bridgehead would gain this part of the bridgehead. Regional victory.Yang Keshi urged his mount without thinking.Wielding two iron maces weighing a total of fifty-one catties, he rushed straight to the enemy crowd at the bridgehead.He didn't even say hello to his generals and soldiers, because he knew that at this critical juncture, the general's will was the command of the whole army, and the direction of his horse head became the direction of the whole army's assault.Wherever he charged, the whole army would follow and charge and fight with him.He rushed into the enemy's formation like clouds and fog, and the dirt and dust raised by the horse's hoof not only blocked his sight, but also blocked the Liao army's sight.They seemed to be separated by a barrier of dust and mist, and before he could clearly see each other's true face, four or five iron spears had already struck him together.He used his iron mace to strike hard, and pressed all the iron bars to the ground, only to hear two "cracks", two iron bars snapped at the same time, and the other one also suddenly snapped due to the heavy pressure. He dropped his hand and fell to the ground - this round of battle, he himself did not know where the divine power came from, which made him win quickly.It wasn't until then that he saw the dusty Liao army picking up half of the iron spear, or turning their mounts and fleeing with empty hands.

Yang Keshi took advantage of the momentum and flew to catch up, while Wu Ge and Gao Shixuan guarded him closely.Gao Shixuan wielded his long saber, and whenever he had the opportunity, he freed his hand, hitched his bow with arrows, and shot the enemy horses off their horses one after another.Over there, Wu Ge immediately stepped forward, added a spear, and firmly nailed the fallen Liao army to the ground.When he drew out the bloody lance point, Gao Shixuan had already grabbed the machete and fought against the aggressive enemy cavalry. The three-member leader and general of their group are like a parachutist who penetrates into the clouds from above the sky, galloping at a speed of lightning and lightning, shooting arrows from far away, shooting maces from near, and killing with swords. Killed more than a dozen Liao troops in a row, forced the rest of the Liao troops back, and suppressed their arrogance in an instant.

They played to the highest efficiency that warriors can play in a hand-to-hand combat. On the narrow ground of the bridgehead, there were so many people gathered, everyone couldn't use their hands and feet, so the two sides continued to spread out to the two wings.At this time, all of Yang Keshi's personal soldiers had arrived, and the withdrawn river defense troops also revived and returned to fight.Due to the lack of a unified order and command, this part of the troops was forced to withdraw from the position under the pressure of the enemy.Now with the help of the general, and five hundred soldiers who are alive and well as their supporters, they suddenly became more courageous and turned back to fight.At this time Liu Zhengyan also escaped from the enemy's encirclement and redeployed his attack.

The Liao army faced the river with their backs, and it was impossible to retreat, so they had to fight desperately to escape from death.The drums of the two sides shook loudly, shouts of killing echoed everywhere, and a fierce decisive battle was launched. The soldiers not only fought with the enemy with their hands and blades, but also used the sprint force of the sudden horse to charge the enemy, pushing them and their horses into the river at once.This is a simple and effective way to fight according to local conditions.They set a target from a distance and rushed up. Some Liao soldiers who were caught off guard were thrown into the river by them, and some soldiers were too violent to restrain their mounts. All the troops fell into the river together, and some Liao troops were prepared and picked up the horse's head obediently.Dodging the rush of the guards, he turned around behind him instead, taking advantage of his horse's hooves when he rushed, and squeezed him lightly into the river.

Although the drama battle is still going on, the situation has clearly turned around.The Northern Song army completely controlled the bridgehead and drove the Liao army that had occupied it there from the east, west, and south.The Liao army on the pontoon bridge saw that the bridgehead had been seized, their passage had been blocked, and they could not land, so they scrambled, squeezed, and side by side, and retreated to the north bank in chaos. Only sporadic boats and rafts continued to carry people and horses across the river.But the landing points were all under the control of the Song army, making it difficult to go up.Gao Shixuan immediately left the general and led a group of well-trained archers to face the river bank and aim at the target.He waved the red flag in his hand.The crossbows were all fired, and the arrows were everywhere, and a group of Liao troops rolled into the river.The boat lost its pole-handler, and turned around in the middle of the river. The raft swayed to the left and right, shaking the people who were hit by the arrows and those who were not hit by the arrows into the river.Some Liao soldiers kept calm, stood firm, blocked the arrows with their shields, tried their best to keep the balance of the raft, and wanted to rush ashore to rescue the besieged comrades on the south bank, but they couldn't stop Gao Shixuan and his group of archers from aiming again and again. They shot, and each one was wiped out on the raft, in the middle of the river. The reinforcement route of the Liao army was blocked, but the follow-up troops of the Song army continued to drive up from the rear.The Liao army gathered on the north bank could not cross the river, and their arrows could not reach the south bank, so they had to stare and worry. At this time, the remaining Liao army on the south bank fought bravely like trapped animals in a trap.But in terms of numbers, it is already at an absolute disadvantage.They were cut into sections and pieces by the superior Song army, and they could no longer gather the remaining forces.They formed a group of several people, back to back, and fought against the Song army that was several times or even ten times larger.Their armor was already spattered with their own blood and that of the enemy. Some suffered wounds in seven, eight, or more than ten places. The blood poured out of the wounds and they couldn't spare their hands to bandage them. Some of their weapons were incomplete. .Faced with such an imminent death, they still fought without fear to protect themselves, their comrades-in-arms, and this nation that was at a critical moment of life and death.Sometimes they hacked Song Jun to death on the ground with one knife, and picked Song Jun off his horse with one shot, and they cheered, saying that he had made back his capital and died without regret.Sometimes they broke out heroically and galloped along the bank, only to be stopped by the enemy ahead.Looking at the enemies before and after, when it was really impossible to escape, he quickly took off his armor, rushed into the river with his men and horses, and tried to swim back.Song Jun who caught up stood on the bank of the river, a burst of arrows and a series of blood bubbles came to the surface of the water, ending his heroic life. The Liao army around the bridgehead has been completely wiped out. The rampant Liao army on the south bank of Langoudian has been completely wiped out. The first battle was won and lost after fierce and arduous fighting.The experienced Yang Keshi can weigh the opponent's weight as soon as he gets started, as if he can weigh the weapon in his hand.The fighters also weighed each other's weight, unanimously feeling that this was a heavy battle.But now they had a brisk interval. At this time, it was the turn of Chen and Si.There is no cloud in the clear sky, the sun shines high on the battlefield, everything was once covered by the darkness before dawn, by the emotional state of mind during tense battles, by the deafening sound of drums, and by the overwhelming dust The situation of the enemy and our two sides, which has risen, is now clearly presented in front of the soldiers. The first thing the soldiers saw was the corpses of a large number of soldiers and horses left over from the battlefield, including those of the enemy and our own. Due to the differences in clothing and hairstyles, they could be identified at the first sight.Some of them have died long ago, and the blood from their wounds has congealed into purple, brown, and black.Some were still taking their last few breaths, showing expressions that the survivors could not understand in their eyes that had lost their spirits but had not yet closed.Others made a hoarse hooting sound, begging for a sip of water from their comrades or enemies. This saliva was so important to him. These brave warriors who fought bravely had concentrated their vitality on a small point, and he only needed a sip of water. But the surviving soldiers also need this precious sip of water. A few lonely trees and some makeshift shelters cast their shadows clearly on the ground, but the soldiers rarely had the opportunity to get their shade.The scorching sun hit them directly, and the iron armor seemed to be roasted, sticking to their flesh.Their skin felt like it was going to crack, and their throats were as dry as smoke.But this bitter hot, thirsty feeling only begins to be felt after a tense struggle is over.Now, taking advantage of this moment of truce, they flocked to the river beach to scoop up water to drink.Some soldiers did not have iron bowls or iron pots for ladling water, and they couldn't wait to find other utensils, so they couldn't wait to scoop up unclean water with both hands, drank it, and then rushed to the dying comrades to let him taste it. To a sip.The horses they lead can stretch their necks more flexibly than they can, or swim out to the river to bury their mouths and have a hearty drink.This seems to supplement the boiled water and blood lost by the man and the horse in a tense battle, bringing them supreme enjoyment.Some soldiers simply sat on a stone pier, took out the dry food they brought with them, and ate it with water. After solving the biggest physiological needs, I went to observe the whole picture of the battlefield.They saw that although the pontoon bridge erected by the enemy in the boundary river was interrupted in several places, it was not completely destroyed, and some Liao troops were linking it up.They saw that the rafts and boats that had lost their drivers were still flowing in the middle of the river, and some of the desperate Liao army tried their best to hook them back with hooks in an attempt to reuse them.In particular, they saw that there were still so many eager Liao troops crowded on the north bank of the river. Not only did they show no sign of retreating, but they received reinforcements from the rear.Attempt to cross the river again. Connecting these phenomena they saw, they clearly thought that a fierce battle was not over, and that the moment of enjoyment they had now was just an intermission between two lively dramas.